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Berlin is a metropolis of culture. In 2010 numerous cultural events take place in the city. Here are my seven most recommended ones.
Frida Kahlo Exhibition
An exhibition of works by Frida Kahlo, the communist Mexican painter, is displayed until August 9, in Martin Gropius building. Frida Kahlo, died on July 13, 1954, at the age of 44. In the center of her turbulent life were, among others, her love for her husband Diego Rivera, the great Mexican painter, and her deep interest Maya and European art. However, most of his works reflect the pain and suffering caused by their severe injuries in a bus accident when she was 18
Over 150 of his paintings and drawings are on display in Berlin. Many of them were borrowed from private collections. It 'been written about the artist. In 2002, Hollywood produced the film "Frida" with Salma Hayek. Frida was to be the first Hispanic woman with a U.S. postage stamp (2001 honored). The exhibition in BerlinCurators decided not to display Kahlo’s work chronologically. Attached to the exhibition are artistic photos taken by her grandniece, Cristina.
Olafur Eliason’s Exhibition
An exhibition that won much public interest in Berlin is “outside the city inside”, displaying the works of the Danish-Icelandic outdoor artist Olafur Eliason, 43, in Martin Gropius building. After his performances shown in New York, London and Stockholm, Eliason is focusing first time on Berlin, a city he adopted long ago as the permanent seat. The exhibition includes 28 works. One of them is “microscope” – vibrating mirrors capturing the sunlight outside the building. The exhibition will be open until September 9.
Eliason works in Berlin since 1994. Since 2008 he has been a professor at the University of Art in the city. One of his most famous works is “Weather Project” was presented several years ago at Tate Modern in London and drew more than two million visitors..
20th century Germany: Pictures
By June 20, the public can still see a collection of photos taken during the 20th Century, as "people – places – the time" in the German Historical Museum on Unter den Linden. The 300 photos are carefully what the German history from the late 19th century to the last days of East Germany.
Among other exhibits are photographs of German propaganda Olympic Games of 1936 and the Nazi Party "party capital" of Monaco, along with shots of the photo agencySchostal, which continued to employ Jewish photographers despite the 1933 ban, bypassing the Nazi laws. Robert Schostal the agency’s owner was himself forced to immigrate to the U.S. in 1938. There is also an impressive display of artistic photos taken by contemporary young German photographers.
Queen Louisa’s world
Until October 31 on the Peacocks’ island (Pfaueninsel), on the western edge of the city, an art exhibit dedicated to Queen Louisa of Prussia, 200 year anniversary of her death, is taking place. The romantic island is situated on the Havel River. It was one of the places favored by the Prussian royal family. Today it’s a nature reserve. UNESCO declared it a World Heritage. Site. The presentation is called “The queen’s island world.” Renowned artists from around the world show works related to the life of Queen Luisa and about her functioning as the wife of King Frederick William the 3rd, as a mother, a stateswoman and a national figure in her law. Visitors can see the works at 18 stations scattered throughout the island, and enjoy the beautiful landscape as well.
Nelly Sachs in the Jewish Museum
Until 27June 2010, the Jewish Museum in Berlin, showing the world a jew-Swedish poet Nelly Sachs, literature since 1966 has won the Nobel Prize. Sachs was the first poet who has never won the prize for the letter in German. He wrote his poems in a small apartment in Stockholm, sometimes in the darkavoid awakening her ailing mother. Sacks died 78 years old, on 12 May 1970.
The exhibition, marking 40 years since the poet’s death, includes a duplicate of the small kitchen where she wrote her works, as well as photos, documents, films and personal effects, such as the dictionary “Swedish for beginners – in 30 hours”, which allow a glimpse of her inner world. That world was deeply influenced by the traumatic events of 1940, when Nellie and her mother flew in the last passenger plane leaving Berlin to Stockholm. They managed to escape Berlin, having already been handed a deportation order to a concentration camp.
A childhood dream of Nelly was of being a dancer. She imagined making dancing movements each time she listened to her father playing the piano. The father’ a Jewish businessman, died in 1930. “Dancing was my way of expression long before writing,” she said later.
At the age of 17, Nelly fell in love with a man, who remained anonymous until now. Because of her unrequited love, she stopped eating and was hospitalized for three years at a sanatorium. Her first poems were written there. After the death of her father, she nursed her sick mother, while trying to publish her poems. However, when Hitler came to power, the publication of her works was limited to “No – Aryan” forums only.
During her early years in exile in Stockholm she devoted herself to take care of her sick mother. At night, she sat at the typewriter and expressed in his poems the horrors the Nazi regime. When her mother died in 1950, Nelly Sachs, who was 60, remained alone, for the first time in her life. A short time later she suffered a breakdown, and later was hospitalized many times in psychiatric hospitals. She continued to live in her little flat in Stockholm until her death.
Aga Khan Art Treasures
In Martin-Gropius Building, there is also an Islamic art exhibition called “Aga Khan Museum Treasures.” One of the important exhibits is the oldest surviving edition (1052) of the manuscript called “canon of medicine”, a collection of essays written by the philosopher and doctor Abu Ali ibn Sina, describing the anatomy of the eye, symptoms of diabetes and the heart functioning as a pump. Ibn Sina was a Muslim scientist, who lived more than 1,000 years, and was the first one who knew about the link between physical medicine and psychiatric treatments. The book, written originally in Arabic, was translated into Latin in the 12th century, and served as a textbook for medical universities in Europe for more than 500 years.
Along with this ancient book, there are more than 200 works from 18-8, which represent the best of Islamic art. One of the other exhibits is the precious Blue Koran from North Africa (9-10th century.. The holy book’s parchment pages are painted blue, and the letters golden.
The exhibition is based on Aga Khan’s collection. Karim Aga Khan the 4th, now 74, is the spiritual leader of the Ismailia sect. The sect members believe he is a direct descendant of the Prophet Muhammad. His Islamic art collection is considered one of the world’s largest and richest. In 2013 the collection will get its permanent home in a museum being built in Toronto, Canada.
Classical modern art
The New National Gallery (Neue Nationalgalerie), at the Cultural Forum, near Potsdamer Square, displays the exhibition “Modern Times”, with great works made in the years 1900-1945. These works have stayed a long period in the museum’s warehouse. The artisits are, among others, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Max Beckmann, Otto Dix, Fernand Léger, Emil Nolde, Lionel Feininger, Salvador Dali, Kurt Schwitters and Oskar Kokoschka.
In the fall 2011 the museum will display works made after 1945.
More about museums in Berlin, opening hours, transport, and many other details may be found in my web site:
http://www.berlinwalking.com